Chapter=35 (What's your name?)

An unknown amount of time had passed still there was no hint of his parents. Once in a while, newmoon kept on peeping towards the principal office patiently waiting for when will he see the shadow of his parents.

A moment later, a young lady with a bun in her hair approached him. She gave a gentle smile when her eyes met with a newmoon. At first, he thought maybe it was mistaken gestures and like others, she would pass through him too. But rather she stopped in front of him.

She bend down a bit and spoke softly with vivid sparking eyes, "Hello there! Good morning!"

"G-Good morning!"

Before he could initialize the whole situation his words already slipped from his mouth. However, it sounded small barely anybody could hear.

"You two must be the new students right?"

This time newmoon nodded anxiously.

Seeing how obedient and flushed he was, the young lady couldn't help but smile.

"Such a cute child!"

She muttered underneath her tone before the few footsteps joined the conversation.

"Excuse me! By chance are you miss Choi?"

Dad's firm voice echoed in the hallway.

Hearing it, the young lady instantly stood up, "Yes! I miss Choi! And are you Mr. Kim?"

"Yes!"

Bowing a bit, miss Choi extended her hand as if she was showing the way, "Here! Let me guide you the way!"

All of the 5 people including miss Choi began to pace forward. They turned a few right, then walked a long hallway before stopping at the corridor. The class was right in front of them.

The loud hustle and bustle were buzzing throughout the hallway. Some students were shouting and gossiping and the rest were laughing out loud. It was as though the newmoon had come in the nest of bees rather than a classroom. Still, If the students didn't make noises then the school wouldn't be a school, doesn't it?

"This is Grade 5 class 1. Your classroom! The homeroom teacher must be in her way. You can enter now little cutie!"

Miss Choi widened her lips once again. While newmoon flinched. It was the first time he had ever heard someone complimenting him since birth. The tip of his ear turned reddish.

"What're you waiting for? Go inside! We'll go into the next building for john!"

Sweat dripped from his forehead. He gulped his saliva and nodded at him.

Just when he took a tiny step forward he heard something from behind,

"Oh~ Ho! Mr. Kim is blessed with such a cute elder daughter!"

Newmoon, "…"

Dad, "…"

Mum almost choked from her words. Immediately afterward, she corrected her, "No-No! he is a boy, not a girl!"

Hearing it, Now miss Choi was the one who almost cracked and slipped her position. She quickly regains her posture and apologized in panic, "Oh! I-I'm sorry! I misunderstood! It was because S-He was sure- *ahem* I mean he looked cute so, I haha!"

Meanwhile mum was perplexed about how she could get mistaken. The appearance of the newmoon was so obvious. Yes! He did seem timid and small but that's how children are in their childhood age. In addition, his hair was trimmed too, and not long! So how could she misinterpret?

While mum and miss Choi were chattering and teasing about john's appearance too, at the same time, newmoon encountered his homeroom teacher at the class door.

Unlike miss Choi, the teacher in front of him seemed quite reserved and strict.

On the other hand, She took a glance at him from the top of the hair to the tip of the toe. Her eyes were lost in thoughts as if she had something in her mind.

Newmoon bowed to her showing a form of respect. While the teacher glanced left to where miss Choi and his parents were.

"…"

Pulling out a straight face, she walked across him and halt in front of his parents.

"Pardon my intrusion miss Choi and Mr. Kim, But are you sure the child should be in grade 5 and not in grade 4?"

"Yes! I'm sure!"

With a pause, Dad responded.

"Have you taken your child's decision about it?"

"What's there to be taken in the first place?"

"…"

It didn't take long for the lively conversation to swiftly turned into an overwhelming and awkward one. Even newmoon could feel the stiff atmosphere from miles away.

"As for a student who has been jumping every class within the 3 years. I doubt the passing exams will be piece of cake for him! So, I was reassured that it was a mistake in the number and class!"

Mum, "…"

Oddly enough, Dad's lips curved into a gentle smile, "My son must be blessed to have such a considerate homeroom teacher like you!"

"…"

For a brief moment, she seemed to sense something from him.

"However, To talk about the exams and passing grades, I assure you to not worry about it. Cause don't you think it's a student's duty and responsibility to work hard and obtain good marks?"

Soon after, his smile turned into a grin, "..And, Don't you think a teacher's first and foremost duty is to teach and look out after weak children? Teachers teach and students learn. Quite a simple right?"

Only then, did the teacher know what were the earlier emotions and sensation was! Her eyes drifted toward the deep eyes of Mr. Kim. It was as though she was talking to a wall.

"I understand! Sorry for the time I've taken!"

"No! It's us who should be apologizing for it! We have bothered you with an unnecessary topic. As a teacher, you're just doing your work."

Before the teacher left, Mr. Kim bowed and declared, "Just like how your main priority as a teacher is to teach likewise in the same way a student's priority is to study hard!"

Although on the surface he might be looked as if he was concerned about the teacher and throwing some wisdom, and philosophy about the connection between teacher and students but deep down all of them sense the tension and the meaning behind those words. As though it was the second reminder dad was hinting to mind her own business!

In the end, she gave up and return to the class with the new student newmoon! While on the other side, Miss Choi took them into the other building.

…

Bell rang! It was lunchtime. All the students rushed out of the classroom in a way as if the Zoo animals have been finally released from their cages. It was a disaster in some kind of way. Meanwhile, inside the classroom, only Newmoon and a few other classmates were present there. And why he was the only one remaining?

Cause at this point, having lunch was the last thing he could think about! From the moment he entered his soul somewhat flew from his body after witnessing the massive height differences between him and the other students. Even the girls in his class were more gigantic than he let alone the boys. Amidst that, he felt his pride cross somewhere.

He laid down his head pretending to fall asleep but he just wanted to disappear at that time. To talk about bad luck, out of the blue one boy walked up to him and spoke, "Hey new boy are you alright?"

It startled newmoon but he didn't show a reaction. He opened his mouth and answered frankly, "Yes!"

Compared to the first interaction between him and the teacher, this time newmoon handled the conversation as well as his nervousness well.

As expected, that boy was too few inches taller than him. Newmoon lifted his chin upwards to glance at him properly.

"Oh shoot! We didn't have a proper introduction right?"

He extended his hands, "I'm Ahn Nahee and I'm 13 years old. What's your name?"

This boy name 'Ahn Nahee' had an average appearance in particular. Among all the body features, his height was the only factor that helped him stand out at the moment. But little did he know, Nahee was the smallest one in the classroom.

Shaking the hands, Newmoon introduced himself as well but when it came up to his age he swallowed the truth and spilled the lie. He added 2 years from the current age.

With a guilty feeling glued to his heart, he looked around and asked, "Is the classroom always this quiet?"

Knowingly, he misspelled the word 'noisy' with 'quiet'. Cause he wanted to leave a good impression on him and talk a bit about the good things about the school too. This way both newmoon and nahee would have a piece of mind.

"PPfft~!"

Strangely, nahee broke out into laughter.

Newmoon, "?"

A voice in his mind said, "So, Indeed he doesn't deny the fact!"

As soon as his laughter came to an end, he answered honestly, "Today is exceptional so that's why it is silent!"

"?"

It was an unexpected answer.

"Why? Cause Nearly 50% of students are absent today! Just wait a few days. You'll automatically know the true essence of the students here!"

Upon hearing it, Newmoon felt his heart skip an inch from its original space. The classroom already seemed like it had outnumbered the entire population of newmoon's community and now he heard it was only 50%. So how much was the total number of students?

Seeing the change in their expression of him, Nahee patted his shoulder, "It is only the first day! My friend!"

Unconsciously, Nahee's eyes froze somewhere outside through the windows.

Quickly, He kicked newmoon's shoulders with his elbow, "hey! Look at them! Hurry!"

Newmoon shifted his gaze toward the direction of nahee but he didn't seem to notice the thing.

"?"

"Did you see that two girls? The one who is walking wrapping their hands to each other?"

"O-Oh..them.Yes?"

"Hah! They are the new so-called best friends of grade X Class X!"

Newmoon raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"So..?"

Nahee explained with a troublesome attitude, "Sigh! You are a new student so you don't know anything about it. Let me explain to you. Long story short, Our school has been plagued by the virus name 'Best friends' for quite long years. It's almost like a fashion trend. There isn't a single person in the entire school who hasn't got a best friend title."

As he was describing, his nose wrinkled with irritation, "No matter where you go, you will find a pair here and there. Not only girls even boys are crazy about it. Idk what's wrong with them! It would be best if they had worked out together but no! Every single day they fight, quarrel, and finally broke out of their friendship and patch up with each other ones. No action toward honesty and seriousness Just kept on naming and bragging about the best friend's title. Gosh! I'm tired of this all shit. There are even some rumors that boys/girls got into extreme fights because of it. It's scary right?"